Corporate America has a problem.
It wants to diversify its work force, but, according to an article in
the Star Tribune (February 16, 2005), cant consider diversity
when they hire ... Not to worry. The marketplace
has gotten creative with the diversity dilemma over the years.
For $125, a conference sponsored by the St. Thomas College of Business
(which gives business education an ethical twist) and the Twin Cities
Chapter of the National Black MBA Association can provide some useful
tips.

Suppose the employer cant tell
whether the job applicant is a person of color? Check the persons
resume. If it shows membership in the National Association of
Asian American Professionals or the Hispanic Alliance for
Career Enhancement, chances are that this applicant will contribute
to the employers diversity goals without the interviewer having
to ask.

Suppose that only middle-aged
white men will apply? The solution: Peruse the resumes on
DiversityInc.com or HireDiversity.com.

Suppose that two equally qualified
persons apply, one who advances the goal of diversity and another who
does not? The diversity counselors suggest saying While
this person has similar skills, what makes this other person more optimal
to me is he has used more software', or something like that. The
clueless white guy will never be the wiser.

So there it is, right out in the open.
Americas leading corporations are being advised to look for legal
ways to discriminate with respect to gender or race, so long as the
discrimination runs a certain way. To my way of thinking, this is unethical.
But, of course, we cant have an open discussion of it.

To me the situation is reminiscent
of that in the stereotypical segregationist South - a combination of
open discrimination and deceptive moves by powerful bureaucrats, whether
small-town Sheriffs deputies or Human Resource managers, to keep
people uninformed and in their place.

Apart from the racial reversal, the
difference between fifty years ago and the corporate situation today
is that, whereas white society then discriminated against blacks, corporations
headed mostly by white males are discriminating against other, mostly
younger white males.

Some say this shows progress toward
a meritocratic system. Presumably the white males applying for jobs
must be dolts; otherwise they would be holding the good jobs already.

All I can say is that in the bad old
unmeritocratic days, our industries invented such things as jet aircraft
and computers; while today were inventing Post-it notes, supersized
burgers, variable-interest mortgages, and FDA-approved pain-killing
pills.

I think that those mostly white-male
CEOs who are pushing for diversity are not so much broad
minded as they are reptilian in their lack of sympathy for their
own kind. To my diverse friends, I say: If they can do this
to white males, they can also do it to you - and probably will.

We need a paradigm shift away from
meritocratic selection for a shrinking number of good jobs
to a system of employment that utilizes the skills of the less qualified
among us as well as the ones with impressive credentials. Those gatekeepers
in Human Resource departments and colleges of business should try to
find a more productive use of their time.